The present invention relates to an optical adaptor mounting metal fitting and an optical adaptor, and relates in particular to modifying the structure of an optical adaptor mounting metal fitting for preventing the optical adaptor mounted on a panel through a mounting hole from wobbling.
In the prior art, an optical connector as an optical communication component comprises a pair of SC or MU type plugs each holding an end of an optical fiber and an adaptor having a pair of plug mounting holes in which the pair of plugs can be fitted in a facing manner. Each plug has a ferrule in which the end of an optical fiber is inserted with the end faces of the ferrule and optical fiber being flush with each other.
With a pair of plugs being fitted in an adaptor, the end faces of the pair of ferrules abut each other optically connecting the end faces of the pair of optical fibers. Meanwhile, optical adaptors are mounted, for example, on and through an aluminum mounting panel a having a thickness of 1.6 mm, in a row or several rows. In such a case, a leaf spring mounting metal fitting is attached to the outer surface of the optical adaptor. Various forms of mounting metal fittings have been proposed for easier mounting of the optical adaptor in a mounting hole of the panel.
For example, the optical adaptor mounting metal fitting described in Japanese Utility Model Registration 3111711 is an optical adaptor mounting metal fitting attached to the outer surface of an optical adaptor for preventing the optical adaptor mounted on a panel through a mounting hole thereof from wobbling. This optical adaptor mounting metal fitting comprises a joining plate and a pair of facing side plates extending from either side of the joining plate neatly at a right angle and protruding from the joining plate at both ends in the longitudinal direction.
The side plates each comprise an outer frame and an elastic click engagement formed by cutting out and raising the middle part of the outer frame outward. The outer frame has a curved engagement formed integrally with it at the front end that faces the inner surface of the mounting hole of a panel to elastically engage with a part of the inner surface of the mounting hole.
When an optical adaptor with the optical adaptor mounting metal fitting of Japanese Utility Model Registration 3111711 thereto is mounted on a panel through a mounting hole thereof, the optical adaptor can be secured to the panel without wobbling by means of small elastic deformation of the curved engagement as long as the gaps between the right and left edges of the mounting hole and the right and left sidewalls of the optical adaptor are of the proper size.
However, in this optical adaptor mounting metal fitting, the curved engagement is integrally connected to the outer frame at the top and bottom ends and is smaller in length in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, the curved engagement has a significantly small elastic deformation capacity, yielding insufficient spring elasticity. Furthermore, the outer frame is in the form of a frame, which is difficult to be elastically deformed, yielding almost no spring elasticity.
For this reason, when the panel mounting hole has a small width and the gaps between the right and left inner surfaces of the mounting hole and the right and left sidewalls of the optical adaptor are small, the curved engagement of the mounting metal fitting is not elastically deformed to be flat and is then, not inserted in the mounting hole. Therefore, the optical adaptor cannot be mounted on the panel. When the gaps between the right and left inner surfaces of the mounting hole and the right and left sidewalls of the optical adaptor are large, the curved engagement is not elastically engaged with the inner surface of the mounting hole. Therefore, the optical adaptor is not secured to the panel without wobbling.